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Early weaning or no milk?

my 7wks old baby screams alot before taking the breast(did that 3wks ago when we stop using the shield), he falls asleep quickl at the breast after all that crying and refusal. now, my breasts throbs and hurt, i don't feel overl full nor hard but they get stiff when he latches....what do you think is happening with us?

Re: Early weaning or no milk?

Yes the "stiffness" after baby starts sucking could be "letdown'. But that does not explain the throbbing pain if that is all the time? That sounds like you are engorged or maybe have plugs, vasospasm, painful latch…it's hard to say without more info. So I have some more questions-when is the pain happening exactly, how often is baby nursing, are you offering to nurse at babies early cues or waiting until baby cries, is baby gaining, are you pumping and, if you are, why and how often, and yes, what has the poop/pee count been like?

I can definitely assure you a 7 week old baby is not weaning. As far as a 7 week old baby is concerned there is nothing to wean to. The only exception might be if baby is also receiving fairly frequent bottles as well, which can cause “nipple confusion or flow confusion” and, in which case, you would probably want to stop or cut back on the bottles. A baby this age will normally have a real compulsion to nurse, probably very frequently, but if baby is having difficulty latching or is bothered by a fast flow that could cause the fussiness at the breast you describe. Also some babies just fuss as they come to the breast because they are impatient/hungry/just being babies.

Re: Early weaning or no milk?

my entire breast breast burns or feels sore, especially the front on the underside and the areola. I don't pump cause nothing comes when I do, he gets 1-2 bottles per day, pee is ok poop once per day or three days

Re: Early weaning or no milk?

Is baby gaining? Did baby ever poop more often? Why is baby getting bottles? How often do you nurse? (How many times in a day.) Do your breast hurt all the time? Just when nursing? I am sorry, this is still not enough info for me to have any thoughts of what is going on at all. But if you are giving your baby bottles and not pumping at those times, that could cause 1) your breasts to hurt because you are not nursing enough and you are getting engorged and/or have milk plugs and 2) cause milk supply to go down over time.

Also if you are pumping and NOTHING at all is coming out, most likely, either your pump is not working correctly or you are so engorged your breasts have become congested.

I suggest you call a LLL Leader so she can help you figure out what is going on and give you suggestions that may help you meet your breasfeeding goals. If you do not have anyone locally, try the USA helpline or you are welcome to PM me with your number or, if you request it in a PM, I can give you mine.

Do you know what professional assistance is availble to you where you live? Many places have free breastfeeding help for some moms. Have you seen a board certified lactation consultant recently?

Re: Early weaning or no milk?

pain is when he's not nursing, no set time to set in. i nurse with and without hungry cues, if he sleeps for an hour or keeps waking up after a feed i nurse and if he wants to sleep. our visit in on the 21st of this month, sometimes he feels like he is gaining and another time he feels he has lost alot.

Re: Early weaning or no milk?

ok, well, i have pain during milk 'let down' myself, and the pain is primarily felt in the areola and underside of my breast and happens several times throughout the day-but it is very temporary-lasts maybe a minute if that. When it happens I know it's time to nurse and i try to wake up my baby...Could that be what the pain is, as mommy2lilah suggested?

The reason I asked about weight gain is the poops seem fairly infrequent, but at this age-anytime after 5-6 weeks- that could be entirely normal. That is why I asked about pooping pattern prior to now---Did you have a two week appt with the doctor? Was weight gain good at that point?

Where do you live- in the US, elsewhere? It sounds like maybe English is not your first language-there are LLL Leaders in the US who speak other languages than English... would that maybe be helpful to you?

sometimes he feels like he is gaining and another time he feels he has lost alot.